From Foe to Friend
by Vanguard523
Summary: A warchief has been rumored to rival the Gravewalker's strength among the uruks. But what happens when the Gravewalker himself comes to investigate said rumor?


Mozfel The Mindless. The title was ironic for the large defender uruk warchief as his mind was quite functional and had saved him from traitors and other enemies alike more than several times. As he strode through the fort of Executioner's Watch to confront the filthy tark that had been decimating his hordes of warriors with his two bodyguards in tow, his thoughts began to wonder as to why or how no other uruks had killed this pinkskin before.

Talion stood in front of the cart on the bridge as he awaited the warchief's arrival. He knew without a doubt that this was going to be his toughest fight when he first learned about the fearsome shield-bearer from another uruk. This one was fearless, battle-hardened, regenerated wounds much faster than most, a master of combat, always alert and heard that all arrows seem to just bounce off his skin harmlessly. After several minutes of planning beforehand, Talion knew that his only option would be to lure the warchief out to the plains where a branded horned graug awaited.

Mozfel marched out to the bridge and sent a glare through the skull painted mask on his head towards the ranger. "You've killed many of my soldiers before, but none are like me." He declared threateningly as Talion merely stared back. Mozfel raised his pike and let out a thunderous warcry that signalled his berserker and archer bodyguard to attack.

Two dozen of Sauron's soldiers charged forth including the bodyguards while Mozfel himself began a slow and menacing advance, literally pushing any of his soldiers out of the way, over the edge of the bridge to their deaths. In all fairness though, they should've expected it. Their master was a fierce militaristic leader with a no-nonsense attitude who carefully calculated every move he made and punished every mistake with death. Or killed simply because he felt like it.

A hunter threw a spear at Talion and the ranger rolled out of the way and threw three daggers back in retaliation as three warriors and the berserker bodyguard closed in on him. After blocking a simultaneous attack by two of the warriors with Celebrimbor's help, he stabbed Acharn through the spine of one uruk and used Urfael's razor edge to decapitate the other with a single downward slash. Calling upon the power of the wraith, Talion used his ability he nicknamed 'wraith burn' to terrify the last warrior while the bodyguard took a slash at him, completely unfazed at the deaths of the other three.

Talion blocked it and the uruk locked blades with him, bringing them face-to-face with each other. The insane one with a metal bandage on his head merely giggled sadistically several times before shoving him away. The ranger wasn't sure what to make of the encounter but had no time to dwell on it as his opponent leapt forth with axes raised, intending to kill. The former captain dodged the attack and sent a fierce wraith-enhanced punch to his stomach, leaving him vulnerable. Both ranger and wraith wasted no time as they took turns slashing at their enemy before Talion punched him again and sent him sprawling to the ground. The ranger stabbed with Acharn, but the berserker resisted the attack and shoved him away.

 _Why is it never easy?_ Talion thought sarcastically as he sent two more normally lethal slashes to the mad uruk. As the bodyguard fell to the ground once more, Mozfel closed in while his other bodyguard prepared to throw a fiery spear at the tark. Seeing an opportunity, Talion held the berserker in a chokehold with Acharn at his throat as the uruk hunter threw his projectile and impaled the berserker in the heart, killing him instantly. As the body fell limp and black blood flowed freely onto the stones of the bridge, two defenders, an archer and five warriors charged forth. Talion let Celebrimbor take control as he drew Azkar and the Elven ring-smith fired three arrows; one at the archer and two which bypassed the defender's shields, each of them causing instant death as the spectral shots struck them in the head. After using wraith flash combined with wraith burn, which seared the innards of the remaining five warriors, Talion looked up to see a sneering Mozfel and his final bodyguard still alive. Remembering that the hunter had the fatal weakness of being vulnerable to ranged attacks, the Bright Lord drew Azkar once again but rather than simply firing a fully-drawn arrow at him, they moved at a speed only rivalled by lightning, plunged Urfael into his throat before removing it and severing his head.

 _One remains._ The ranger thought proudly.

 _But this one is a far cry from those we've faced before._ Celebrimbor warned. Talion silently nodded in agreement as Mozfel charged forward unexpectedly fast with his shield raised. The blow was devastating and Talion was feeling the effects very quickly as pain crept through his nerves. Mozfel raised his shield once again and prepared to deliver a shockwave to the ground but Talion was ready for the attack this time as he rolled out of the way and the blow cracked more than a few of the rocks in the bridge.

Deciding now was better than later, Talion began to run out of the stronghold but Mozfel was hot on his heels. "What's wrong tark?!" He yelled. "Afraid of a little pain?!" His thirst for death could practically be heard as he continued to sprint. As they continued to run, Talion used Celebrimbor's wraith vision to see their previously branded graug waiting patiently around just the next corner. Smirking to himself, Talion shadow-mounted the beast and they charged towards Mozfel, who never even flinched and instead picked up his pace as bloodlust overpowered fear.

Surprised that Mozfel was still intent on killing him, Talion ordered the graug to stomp on the warchief but what happened next bordered on impossible. Mozfel raised his shield and foot met metal as both uruk and graug were locked in a contest of pure strength, the warchief a fraction the size of his opponent. The earth underneath Mozfel sank as the graug's weight concentrated itself on the small point of contact.

With a roar of pure anger, Mozfel shoved his shield to the side, causing the monster to lose it's balance temporarily and giving him the opportunity to pierce it's ankle with his pike. Mozfel thrust his blade into the soft flesh and twisted, causing massive pain as the beast fell backwards. Talion leapt off his mount and in that time, Mozfel drew his backup sword and slashed viciously at the fallen graug's throat, killing it. At a loss for words and options, Talion could only watch as Mozfel turned back towards him and marched forth.

"You're not the only one who knows the weak points on a graug, tark." He spat the name. Mozfel slashed diagonally and Talion blocked it with difficulty given his enemy's astronomical strength. After the ranger retaliated by slashing his now unprotected chest, he swept out the uruk's legs from under him and stabbed at his spine with Acharn. Unfortunately for him though, Mozfel saw the attack coming and blocked it with a practically iron arm which stopped all of Talion's downward momentum and his opponent regained his footing.

Relying on the only option he had left which was using wraith flash repeatedly, Mozfel fell to the ground weakly after several hours of battle and took a knee as Talion stood over him victoriously with sweat pouring down his face. " **I'm** the one who does the killing! **Not** you!" He shouted defiantly.

Talion was enraged that this uruk thought he was able to face the legendary Gravewalker and as his thoughts began to venture towards hanging Mozfel's head from his belt like a decoration, Celebrimbor phased in between the uruk and man.

"Wait." He demanded. "With the black captains dead, we need to build a larger army of our own to forever banish the Dark Lord."

"Your point?" Talion snapped.

"Every army needs generals and I believe this one would be a crucial asset."

Talion wanted to argue, to have some excuse to annihilate this uruk, but he had to admit that if the Bright Lord themselves could just barely stand against him, what chance did the rest of Sauron's army have? He heaved a sigh of aggravation and sheathed Urfael before allowing Celebrimbor to brand the warchief.

"You serve the Bright Lord now!" He shouted as they released Mozfel and he slowly stood once more, rejuvenated.

That was when Mozfel was shown the truth. Sauron had promised him power, but in order to achieve said power, he neglected to mention that he would have to contend with thousands of other uruks for the same thing. The Bright Lord however, showed him that while he would be given a position of power, he also informed him of the dangers involved in such a task. That was all the convincing he needed to change sides. Many thought that Mozfel was fearless when in fact there was only one thing that terrified him and that was the unknown, something that the Bright Lord promised would not be present. So he stood, sheathed his sword and nodded at Talion.

"Ready to serve, sir." He declared.

* * *

Talion gazed at the ring on his left hand as he turned it over, drowning out the noise of his uruk army thirsting for the blood of Sauron's forces. He clenched his hand and his personal bodyguard, Mozfel the Destroyer marched up next to him. "Something you need, sir?"

"Are the troops ready to march?"

Mozfel nodded with his signature shield and pike in hand. "We move on your command." Talion returned the nod and thought back. After forging the new ring of power, Mozfel had remained by his side, loyal to the end and even saved his life once. The uruk warchief's bloodlust was insatiable which worked incredibly well when Talion was surrounded by hordes of warriors and Mozfel had coming sprinting out of the trees just in time to block a lethal strike to the back of his neck. Needless to say, there were many, many shredded uruk corpses that day.

Talion looked up as the overlord of the stronghold, an olog-hai named Skun limb-taker wielding a small tree as a weapon let loose a savage roar and began speaking in black speech. Talion cocked an eyebrow and turned to Mozfel who was quietly mouthing the words Skun spoke before translating to his master.

"He says 'If you retreat now, you will be given a quick death but if you siege the fortress, then I will slowly rip off your arms and beat you to death with them.'" Mozfel chuckled and shook his head. "Overconfident shrakh."

Talion nodded and the Bright Lord drew Urfael, raised it over their heads and shouted with well-earned authority; "NO MERCY!" With that, the entire army rushed towards the gates while the suicidal uruk sappers destroyed the metal gates and Talion eliminated the archers adorning the battlements. As Mozfel and his defender vanguard entered the gates, black blood began to spill quickly as a warrior attempted to slash at Mozfel himself and the warchief delivered a skull crushing shield bash to his head before impaling the other uruk on his pike and throwing his corpse in the middle of the enemy forces, causing three others to collapse under the dead weight. He then shield charged through the enemy ranks, knocking down every uruk that stood in his way before stomping on their skulls with his armored boots. The rest of the Bright Lord's forces followed behind, killing all those who stood in their way, taking casualties but still advancing.

Satisfied that his personal bodyguard was doing fine, Talion focused his attention on one of the main points he needed to capture before advancing further. Another olog captain that the Bright Lord had recruited was fighting off several dozen uruks at a time but was sure to die if he didn't get help. One of the uruks had managed to mount his head and was about to stab downwards when a massive hand wrapped itself around his entire body and threw him to the ground before being smashed to a bloody pulp by a large morning star. Talion slaughtered a few of the uruks while his captain regained his strength and reinforcements arrived. Within minutes, the point was under control and the enemy fortress was down a captain as they continued to advance. Talion walked at a leisurely pace alongside his forces who sprinted past him with shouts of pure rage and bloodlust.

Within a second, Mozfel rushed beside his master with his shield raised and Talion heard the familiar _clang_ of an arrow hitting a shield. "Archers, up high!" He shouted, alerting everyone to their presence. Celebrimbor drew Azkar and with the speed of a shadow, decapitated the archer who almost ended his life along with several others that he failed to notice. He then nodded back to Mozfel on the ground who returned the gesture before advancing once more.

As the Bright Lord supported their forces from the rooftops, he was alerted by a shout of pain that he knew belonged to one of his own captains. As he neared the second point he needed to capture, he saw that it wasn't one of his captains that had shouted in pain but rather his own bodyguard. A sneering captain stood over him and was saying something that he couldn't hear over the many other voices. Talion leapt off his position from the rooftop and drew Azkar mid-air, killed five other uruks before landing on top of the captain that stood over his bodyguard and slicing his throat with Acharn. With the threat dealt with and more allied reinforcements incoming, he could see that Mozfel's wounds were much worse than he originally thought. The uruk warchief had multiple large gashes across his chest and his hands looked to be losing their grasp on his pike and shield. Using the restorative power of the wraith, Celebrimbor healed Mozfel and he stood like he had just come back from a month-long vacation of doing nothing as his bloodlust returned. The Bright Lord's forces took the last position without any problems and they were just mopping up the stragglers as Mozfel was now just toying with his prey, impaling them on his pike and kicking the bodies like makeshift projectiles at their former comrades, laughing sadistically as he did so.

Talion entered the large dark chamber of the overlord's throne room as Skun began to stand and grabbed his tree-club, thumping his chest in an effort to intimidate his opponent while his personal guards readied their weapons. Talion's first move was almost invisible as he phased to the upper floor and killed the archers before descending back down to the ground floor. The personal guards were tough, almost as tough as a normal captain but they eventually fell as Talion continued to hack and slash through them.

Skun was getting angry however, and when he got angry, his senses became more acute and his reaction time quicker. As Talion slid through his legs and slashed several times at his ankles, which caused him to bleed badly, Skun anticipated the next slide and picked up Talion by his throat and threw him across the room. He fired several arrows at the olog but this only succeeded in aggravating him further. Talion managed to dodge the shoulder charge he threw at him but was hit by the tree that served as a follow-up attack.

Talion was badly injured and could barely gain his stance as he attempted to stand but failed. He then noticed his back was to the door and a thought came to mind. It was a long shot, but it was all he had. Talion tried to stand once more, fell to a knee, clenched his left fist and waited as a deep laugh emanated from the olog.

"All those uruks think that you're invincible." He said smugly. "Well I'm gonna' show them different after I hang your head from the gates." He declared with a grin.

As he prepared to deliver the final blow, the doors to the throne room swung open and Mozfel came charging in with a roar. Using Talion as a ramp, he jumped off his back and delved his pike so deep in the olog's throat that it protruded out the other side of his neck. Skun fell backwards, his eyes draining of life and his blood flowing onto the stone of the throne room. As Talion recovered from the devastating hits, Mozfel picked up his pike from the olog's corpse and turned towards his master.

"We've taken the stronghold." He declared with a grin underneath his mask. Talion nodded and motioned for his bodyguard to follow him up the steps to the outlook where Skun first addressed them. The Bright Lord took form, half man, half wraith and began to speak.

"This is the first of many conquests! Sauron and his army **will** fall under the influence of the Bright Lord so long as his soldier's blood feeds the ground and we remain strong!" They declared. "ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH?!" They asked their forces, which received a thunderous applause in the form of metal gauntlets on chestplates and iron butted spears on stone ground along with the victorious roars of the uruk-hai. "All who serve in this fortress will now follow the orders of Mozfel the Destroyer!" They declared as the Bright Lord pointed at their personal bodyguard. Again, the crowd cheered and shouted their approval.

Mozfel grinned again. He finally reached the pinnacle of power. He'd gone from warrior to defender to captain to warchief to bodyguard of the Bright Lord to overlord. Talion turned to him and nodded. "This fortress is in your hands. You will still remain as my bodyguard, but you will also have the full authority that comes with being overlord."

The muscular uruk nodded. "Yes sir. I should get to work now, while the fortress is relatively quiet." He declared with a light chuckle.


End file.
